Welding tips and tricks

[dean zuk]

being able to weld opens up a whole new world in regards to 4wds.

Read this quote the other day and it got me thinking about how much more i could do on my truck if i had a welder and some skills with it.

buy a cheap mig welder and start learning to weld .

A couple of days later repco had a sale on so i bought a 100amp gasless mig half price as a starter to get me going. After doing a few welds on bits of scrap i had lying round i was getting the hang of it, altho a few smacks with a hammer revealed they weren't all the greatest.

So what tips/ tricks have helped people with welding? i'm sure theres a few things that could make life easier for us noobs if they were up here

I'm thinking things such as:
Welder set-up (wire speed, heat range)
Prep
Wire and gas types look look for/stay away from
Testing welds (better than whacking with a hammer?)
Things to avoid/safety

Any tips appreciated, i'm sure theres a few of us that would be grateful for the tips

Cheers
Dean

[kbushnz]

Have a good read thru this and the rest of the site...
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/gasless-mig.htm
And have a play.....

[ClassicCruiserSpares]

This is a good thread and will help many others.
Things I think are important, other than the things that you have mentioned above is,
1: A good machine makes a lot of difference.
2: A good quality wire and gas.
3: A good helmet so you can see what your doing.
4: But last of all make sure your comfortable when welding.

[Swamped]

I rate a decent glove up there with a reasonable helmet and I like argoshield gas but yours is gasless so you will need to watch the spatter and slag that will result.
I don't know numbers for feed or anything now as all mine are worn off my machine. Just have paint pen markings but they'd probably vary from machine to machine anyway.

You would normally cut and acid etch your welds if you wana see the penetration and press em to see how strong they are but if thats not an option I dunno. stick to non-structural stuff? I would always recommend a tec night course on basic welding or similar if you haven't got someone to learn off, esp if you want to weld more critical stuff or finiky crap like mufflers and panel steel.

Raid someones scrap steel bin and keep learning how the machine works and drive the google a bit but because mig welds can look nice and still be rubbish/inappropriate for what your glueing together you'd want someone to have a look that knows what they are doing imo. Oh and welding downhill probably lap to start with gives tidy results for newbies.

[slide]

Things to avoid/safety

Avoid welding galv, the vapours aint good for ya..
Be aware the welding has bad uv, so cover up or you'll get sunburnt from it (gloves, helmet, longsleeve (cotton) overalls)

[Suza]

Make sure that what you are going weld is clean, give it a grind or a good clean with a wire brush so that you are working clean to clean
And on the safety side wear decent footwear not gumboots jandels ect

[Dirtydog]

probably the best tip i got was on how to practise getting temp right.

you start by getting a peice of scrap steel the same as what you want to work on, and set the temp to medium.

do an inch of weld on said peice.

if the bead isnt sunken down into the metal, go hotter. if your burning through it, go back a notch.

the idea is to get the setting 1 notch before your burning through it so you get good penetration.

the things i have learnt about doing galvanised steel is the following:

work in a very well ventilated area.

DO NOT BREATH VAPOURS (i suppose that applies to any welding though)

grind of the galv coat around the area you want to weld.

make a quick pass with welder where your going to weld, to burn off any extra, then follow with proper weld.


There is also heaps of tips on youtube, which is awesome because instead of reading about it, you can see what they are talking about.

[crazyclark31]

make sure you v any joins esp on thicker stuff.
Don't wear nylon or plastic clothing as hot stuff burns right on through
make sure your metal is nice and clean
and
Practice practice practice

[bob_or_jim]

I agree on the comfortable thing, your mind is not on the job if your thinking "gee this is awkward". Being able to see is right up there too. You dont need a flash auto helmet, a good lens the right shade is better than an avarage auto one. Having clean steel is very important as well. I guess what Im trying to say is while your getting the hang on it make sure everything is perfect. Once you get going you can play with different types of weld (butt, Fillet, Virtical up etc)

Last but not least, keep practicing untill you get it going and you will love it!

Just dont tell anyone you can weld or it you will be doing exhaust leaks and "small jobs" that only take 5 mins (they never do) before you know it

Jeremy

[2DEAFN]

All of the above are great tips/tricks for starters.....Theres also a website similiar to your topic title ..... http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/

This is where i learnt alot about heat settings / wire speed etc and his videos are top notch...His helmet cam allows you to follow his hand speed and technique.....

All the best !! The more time/ practice spent playing around soon pays off

[andrew007]

they have night school classes at chch polytech

[Dirtydog]

Last but not least, keep practicing untill you get it going and you will love it!

Just dont tell anyone you can weld or it you will be doing exhaust leaks and "small jobs" that only take 5 mins (they never do) before you know it

Jeremy

i can vouch for this, already been hit a couple of times with this one lol.

I would have to say the best thing to practise on would be an old trailer restoration.

I have learnt alot about welding from an engineering friend, to which i practised on my trailer, which i have now sold for $300. im making money if not breaking even, which is good considering its free practise.

Also best place to buy wire i have found is on trademe, $100 bucks for a 5kg roll.

[tomsoffroad]

Also best place to buy wire i have found is on trademe, $100 bucks for a 5kg roll.

Your getting ripped fella. My mig uses 5kg rolls which I get for abot $50-60, however I can get 15kg rolls for $40-50!! So I set up a jig on my lathe to wind onto 5kg rolls from 15kg rolls 3 for the price of 1!!

[The WEHI]

Also best place to buy wire i have found is on trademe, $100 bucks for a 5kg roll.

Your getting ripped fella. My mig uses 5kg rolls which I get for abot $50-60, however I can get 15kg rolls for $40-50!! So I set up a jig on my lathe to wind onto 5kg rolls from 15kg rolls 3 for the price of 1!!

Might be fluxcore.

[nismo26]

$100 will be for 5kg of gasless flux core wire, it would almost work out cheaper to go soild wire and gas than run it gasless.

[chrome]

I find I weld better with beer in my hand between runs,
on a little hundred amp machine you might be needing to run it full noise a lot of the time so said beer gives the machine time to cool between runs..

[coxsy]

last week on a ladder 45dec lean welding 10mm lug on to glav angle iron agood 5metres up
comfortable didn't come anywhere near me that day

[Dirtydog]

yea thats gasless wire.

i do alot of outside welding so it suits me good, although i will be getting a gas setup for it soon for exhausts etc.

ive heard that you can get better penetration from gasless fluxcore? is this true?

[tomsoffroad]

ive heard that you can get better penetration from gasless fluxcore? is this true?

Penetration comes down to prep and heat. There is a flux core wire you can get which is designed to work with Co2. This set up blazes primo welds

[Fakey]

If youre just welding at home one of those cheap $100 auto helmets will do just fine. I used one at work for 3 years. Only replaced it cos I couldnt find a replacement lense protector.

Good gloves, Im right handed an prefer to steady/support the welding hand piece with my left hand when Im welding, so good gloves an a long sleeve cotton shirt or overalls are pretty important

As others have said lots of practice, try keeping a note book of what material/thickness youre welding an what settings work best for each.

[Trundle]

I would avoid the 100 buk helmets like the plauge went through 4 in 1 month (under warantee obviously) they are utterly shit for tig etc as wel dont even dim out under light amperage ,
Spent a resonable ammount and get something with replacable battery adjustable darkness and sensitivity arc eye is not ideal ,

[Fakey]

Maybe I got a good cheap one, never had any issues with it..It was over 5 years ago I bought it tho I replaced it with a nice speed glass one 2 years ago, obviously you get what you pay for

[dean zuk]

Cheers for the tips guys
Haven't had too much more of a play with the welder yet, after reading these tips i'm going to get a bench to work on rather than garage floor and some decent gloves and maybe better helmet than the crap one i have.

Also, this thread could do with a few pics of the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to welds so we can see what to look for ( i'm sure theres a few out there wanting to show off some flash work-or fails

[The WEHI]

Tricky things with welds can sometimes look primo but be crrap

[DEATH_INC]

Tricky things with welds can sometimes look primo but be crrap

And vice-versa of course!

[Dirtydog]

and then ya get the average welds that are average lol

[LOLYF]

Also, this thread could do with a few pics of the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to welds so we can see what to look for ( i'm sure theres a few out there wanting to show off some flash work-or fails

Nice welds look like this



Wish i could say they were mine

[Dirtydog]

those look like tig welds, dam they look nice though....

[LOLYF]

those look like tig welds, dam they look nice though....

The small ones around the top arm mount are TIG the ones from the mount to the brace and the brace to the housing are MIG,.....all welded by Jono from Jono's Race Craft.

[tomsoffroad]

those look like tig welds, dam they look nice though....

The small ones around the top arm mount are TIG the ones from the mount to the brace and the brace to the housing are MIG,.....all welded by Jono from Jono's Race Craft.

Pulse mig?